Kosovo Prime Minister calls for more NATO soldiers for his country 2023 the 9 million Switzerland will be a fact and the world will rely on nuclear power plants – the new year news

Following violent tensions between Serbia and Kosovo over the past week, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti is calling for a stronger presence of NATO protection forces in his country.

“A significant increase in NATO soldiers and military equipment in our country would improve security and peace in Kosovo and in the entire western Balkan region,” Kurti told the German newspaper “Welt”.

The head of government explained that Kosovo is currently increasing defense spending and the number of soldiers and reservists. “An increase in the number of soldiers in the NATO peacekeeping force KFOR would support our defense efforts.” Nearly 3,800 KFOR soldiers are currently deployed in Kosovo, including some Swiss.

The security situation worsened last Wednesday in the conflict between Serbia and Kosovo, a country of 1.8 million people with a predominantly Albanian population.

Kurti said: “16 barricades in four northern communities of Kosovo and men with masks over their faces and insignia of the mercenary group “Wagner” and the “Nightwolves” (Russian motorcycle club; editor’s note) on their dark uniforms, waving flags waving the inscription “Pray to God and Hold on to Russia”, make clear the need for additional NATO troops, as well as the accumulation of Serbian troops and artillery along the Kosovo border and the continued ominous statements by the Serbian and Russian states. »

In response to the establishment of numerous roadblocks on the Serbian side of North Kosovo, the government in Pristina temporarily closed the main border crossing. Kosovo security forces and KFOR soldiers had been attacked several times, some with firearms. After calls from the EU and the US for de-escalation, Serbian head of state Aleksandr Vucic pushed through on Thursday to dismantle the street barricades and calmed the situation.

About 50,000 of the 120,000 members of Kosovo’s Serb minority live in northern Kosovo. For years they have refused to recognize the government in Pristina. Serbia also does not recognize the independence of the region and describes Kosovo as an autonomous province of Serbia. The conflict has been smoldering for more than 20 years. In 2008, Kosovo declared independence with the support of the West. The KFOR peacekeeping force has been present in Kosovo since 1999. (sda/apa)